03/07 - RAG Magazine

BANDS YOU NEED TO KNOW, A-Z- Craig MandellSo, you think you’re hip...You’ve got your subscription to the NME, Puma sneakers, jeans so tight they can’t come off (really, someone get help), an extensive vintage T-shirtcollection, you’ve seen all the Jim Jarmusch films that exist (and even some that “don’t”), and you won’t listen to anything once it’s been “discovered”by the mainstream. Well, Mr. or Ms. Garofalo, you ain’t seen nothing yet. With each new issue, we’ll be bringing you a monthly list of a few more bandsyou need to know if you want to be at the forefront of the next musical revolution. And it’s all alphabetical! Just grab your overpriced coffee and i-tunespassword and listen up, you might even learn something. You guessed it, it’s RAG Magazine’s BANDS YOU NEED TO KNOW, A-ZA Permanent Holiday.Even though your dad’s been on a “permanent holiday” ever since Dell beganoutsourcing jobs to strange guys in New Delhi with fake American names, itdoesn’t mean you can’t enjoy a little permanent holiday of your own. As in, APermanent Holiday, the new project featuring members of Lit, Mest, and Bleedthe Dream. They, of course, are not to be confused with Permanent Holiday, acompletely different band that has no “A” at the beginning of their name. Frankly,we’re already confused and we’re the ones writing this. Maybe one of them canjust change their name to “Emo-y stuff.”Peter, Bjorn, and John.In the ’60s, there was Peter, Paul and Mary, the legendary folk outfit responsiblefor such timeless classics as the subtly marijuana-referencing “Puff the MagicDragon.” And now, years later, there’s Peter, Bjorn and John, who, as far as weknow, have no association with them whatsoever. According to their bio, “Peterand Bjorn met as teenagers and in 1999 they met John. Since then it’s beenhundreds of gigs, two albums, many ep’s & singles, lots of love and lots offussing and fighting.” Sounds to us like a classic Swedish love triangle! (Note:we don’t really know whether they’re gay, straight, or even Swedish for thatmatter.) Probably two of the three though.People in Planes.This much-hyped British alt-rock band’s MySpace page explains that the groupmembers have released records in the past under different names. And to behonest, it’s bugging us. Just who are these guys? Ex-members of A-ha? KidN Play? Is that Kip Winger with a new haircut? Hmmm… we’re on to youWinger. You thought you could hide, but no dice - we found you just like wesaid we would. Now where’s that 20 bucks you owe us?Pilot Speed.Pwww.RAGmagazine.com | 9This great under the radar band is on Wind-Up records, just like People inPlanes. But as far we can tell, they’re not ex-eighties rockers trying to trickus. Then again, it does say they were formerly known as Pilate. Why wouldthey change their name? Seems kind of odd doesn’t it? Odd as in, oh, I don’tknow - maybe they didn’t want to pay a certain Florida Music Magazine the 20bucks they owe them!! That’s right, we’ve been watching Law and Order. ListenWinger, it’s time to pay up, and we’re not messing around this time!